ANDREW MCNAMARA (ANDY MC)
Age: 29
From: Co Limerick
Andrew McNamara doesn’t fit the obvious profile of a jockey. For a start, he stands at six
feet. The only other jockey that doesn’t need a stool to look him in the eye is his brother
Robbie, who is one of the country’s top amateur pilots despite being 6’3” tall.
Apart from that, the Croom, Co Limerick man considered civilian life for a while. He loved
maths at school and after doing well in his Leaving Cert, went to college, while riding as an
amateur. Who knows if the 29-year-old might have saved the country from economic
meltdown, had he chosen a career in banking rather than on the back of thoroughbred
horses? Many punters have had cause to revel in his decision.
He looked a natural in the saddle from the off and having ridden his first winner – La Captive
– for his father of the same name in a Wexford bumper in July 2002, made quick progress. It
was the 11 winners he had totalled by the end of the 2004 season that convinced him to
turn his back on a career in the financial sector for the blood and thunder of jump racing.
Charles Byrnes and Willie Mullins made use of his claim after he turned professional. Cloudy
Bays, Joueur D’Estruval and Victram were amongst those to benefit as he finished his first
season with 23 winners.
An association with Michael Hourigan helped him flourish. The durable Hi Cloy gave him his
first Grade 1 win in the John Durkan Memorial Chase at Punchestown in December 2005 and
they made it a fine double at Leopardstown a fortnight later in the Paddy Power Dial-a-Bet
Chase. Five victories on the Byrnes-trained Mounthenry provided a further boost.
An injury to Robbie Power landed him the ride on Newmill in the Queen Mother Champion
Chase at Cheltenham in 2006. He was brilliant in setting the pace as John Murphy’s gelding
strode to an effortless success – McNamara’s first at the famed festival. It meant a lot to a
man, whose father had trained Boreen Prince to win the Arkle Chase in 1985.
Hi Cloy and Newmill added further Grade 1 prizes and he won the AIG Champion Hurdle at
Leopardstown on Sizing Europe the following term. Linking up with Edward O’Grady helped
plunder some big pots thanks to Sky’s The Limit, Catch Me, Jumbo Rio and Tranquil Sea. He
also partnered Hourigan’s Beef Or Salmon to take the Hennessy Gold Cup.
It was Colin McBratney’s Ballyholland that earned him the William Hill Galway Plate in the
summer of 2009. Eagle-eyed viewers will have noted Robbie running along the rail, cheering
his older brother to the line. The following April, he plundered the Ladbrokes Irish Grand
National on the James Motherway-trained Bluesea Cracker.
Such alliances with other trainers have proven extremely beneficial in the past year, as Andy
Mc went freelance. ‘Shark’ Hanlon is just one to provide him with prolific winners, none
more so than Hidden Cyclone. Argocat (Tom Taaffe) and Shadow Eile (Dot Love) are others
that have kept him in the winner’s enclosure and in demand when he heads for Cheltenham.
Make no mistake, with this man, the numbers will always add up.